A hike through Crane Creek Regional Park

After an extremely shitty week at school with the stress of two midterms and some shitty personal drama spilling over from the week before and shit that happened during the week (I resist the urge to elaborate, but I'm staying on my no personal entries rule), I decided I needed to take the weekend to get out of the dorm and do some photography. Since there was no car shows going on and there won't be for awhile and I was tired of doing campus photo shoots, I decided to pack a lunch and head up to a regional park and take some pictures there.

My original destination was the Sonoma Valley Regional Park in Glen Ellen. I followed Google's directions to Sonoma Mountain Road and realized that that street deserved its mountain name, barely wide enough for two lanes and no lines painted, I wasn't going to drive that, especially when I wasn't sure where I was going. I decided to head back the way I came and take the alternate route of highway 12 through Santa Rosa. I passed Crane Creek on my way up and decided I'd stop there instead. While not as large nor tree filled as I read that Sonoma Valley was, I thought it would be a nice drive.

First thing I noticed was the lack of a ranger station of any sort. Yet you still had to pay for parking, $5 in an envelope. I guess it's based on the honor system and fear that they could come and check anytime, writing down license plate numbers and parking permit numbers to see if you paid. Though it seemed like I was the only one who paid. Oh well, more money for the parks.

Crane Creek is very much like most of California and Sonoma county, covered in grassland with a few trees cropping up here and there. Not until you descend down the hill slightly towards the actual Creek (which was dried up at this time) do the trees start to get more thick.

Overall it was a lovely hike. I'm kind of glad I went to Crane Creek instead. I'm not the most physically fit, and this hike had me somewhat winded near the end, I could only imagine what Sonoma Valley would do to me if it was longer. I'd definitely go up there again, though I'd bring a walking stick. It was great place to clear my mind, distract myself from the shit week I had, and give me a chance to take some great pictures.

My initial reason for going to a park was to see some actual trees that changed color in fall, unlike the evergreens and redwoods I'm used to seeing. While Crane Creek had none of that, the vineyards across the street were showing off their fall colors and it was quite a beautiful sight.




That one was actually taken near the end of my hike.

The first trail I headed to was the overlook trail, I wasn't sure how high up I was, so I wanted to see how far I could see. The view was gorgeous, with Rohnert Park and parts of Santa Rosa in the foreground and the hills covered in haze in the background, I was really awed by it all.






I'm pretty sure that building is the new Green Music Center here at SSU, but I'm not certain, as I couldn't really gauge my location in relation to the school.



From the outlook and other high points of the park, I turned around toward Pressley road and towards the multitudes of vineyard homes and ranches that were located here.


This house really captured my attention, it just stood out where it was.




I wasn't sure what would look better, with the weeds in focus or the house in focus. I think the weeds in focus turned out better, but I think it's because I didn't really get the house totally in focus in the other. Maybe if I played with the F-number I might have gotten better results.


All the trails were marked throughout the park. I spent most of my time on the Fiddleneck trail, which was for walkers, bikes, and horses. I saw no bikes, and only saw horses when I was leaving. This trail does a loop around the park, with various junctions to the other trails. This trail however was not marked and looked like a shortcut that quite a few people decided to take.


The center of the park was made up of a mass of trees that shaded the wildflower meadows. Apparently during the spring this park is a great spot for wildflowers. I guess I'll have to go back when they are in bloom. All I saw were wilted, dead wildflowers.


This tree was all alone near the top of the park. Also notice in this shot part of the trail. The Fiddleneck trail was covered in rocks and gravel that made it quite a difficult journey when going up and slightly dangerous going down. Would not want to ride a bike down this.


I know nothing of trees, so I don't know what this is. But the mass of branches going every which way was amazing. It reminded me of the haunted trees at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.

Another example of the crazy branched trees




Many of the trees had lots of moss and other plants growing on the actual, giving a really cool look.


I wonder how many people go off the trail to go check out that arch, either to lay under it or just look at it closer. I decided not to.


This barbed wire was kind of in a random spot. I guess it was to really force people to stay on the trails by only giving them a gate on the actual trail. I liked the rusted look and the menacing barbs. I had to hump a gate post to get this shot, but I'm pretty happy with. Should have messed with the F-number to get those back poles into focus slightly more without losing the main focus on the front post.


Crane Creek itself was dried up for the year, but apparently it does run at other times. Which is strange, because the Fiddleneck trail seemingly goes right through the creek. It was a tough challenge navigating the many river rocks though.

After the creek and climbing a big hill I was starting to feel the effects of my longish walk. I'm not sure how much I hiked, probably no more than a mile, but it's not something I'm used to. I rally enjoyed myself though. It was great to get out of dorms and into nature, where it was quiet except for the occasional plane sounds, hawk screeches, and rustling birds and lizards. There was only a few people on the trails with me and only one I crossed paths with. I felt alone during most of my walk, which was nice for my mind.

Next time I get out I'm definitely going to try out the Sonoma Valley Regional Park and maybe even the Jack London park, also in Glen Ellen. But as the year wanes on, I don't know how much I'll be able to do before the rain starts, though that will make for some good pictures as well.

Hood Ornaments and Macro Shots

My first few car shows, I rarely took any other pictures besides full shots, with a few detail shots sprinkled throughout. But that quickly became old hat and I was getting bored of it. My dad suggested I try hood ornaments, as there is so many different ones out there. It was one thing he did a lot of when he did photography, so that's what I started to do. There isn't that great of a variety at standard car shows, but by taking hood ornament pictures I think I really developed my eye for closeups, reflections and angles. I can take multiple pictures of the same ornament on different cars, but they can all be different for the most part. And with my new DSLR and now my macro lens filters, I am able to try a lot more. So now, a foray into my hood ornament and macro car shots.



One of my earliest hood ornament shots was also one of my first black and white shots, and is still one of my favorite pictures, even though it suffers from a pretty big flaw.


I have a few other favorite ornaments. I don't have that many ornament shots I like from my point & shoot, not after what I've seen I can do with my new DSLR, but here is a few that I really like.


The Pontiac Chief is another classic that I love. There is just too many angles you can do that face. Plus they have some of the best detail of any of the era.


I swear this is a chicken, my dad claims otherwise, but it will always be the chicken ornament for me. I've set out to take as best of pictures as I can of this one, since my dad had admitted he had trouble with it.


Being one of the most ornate cars of the era, of course Packard will have a really ornate hood ornament. I really like that the background isn't in focus for once, something my point & shoot never seemed to do, but did this time.


Another Pontiac. It was a conscious effort by me to get the light to shine the right way through the head, the first time I've really played with light while taking pictures.


I don't like this shot, but I'm posting it here to show the perils of shiny chrome, a bright sunny day, and not planning shots well.


Hand made ornaments are always a welcome sight, as are non-chrome ornaments, as they make things a bit easier with light and reflections

That's the end of my point and shot ornaments, there is a lot more than what I've showed, just go search for hood ornaments on my flickr page and you'll see.

What I love about my new Nikon D40 is the ability to manually focus, something I couldn't do with my point and shoot. And while I've discovered that the autofocus is actually really good on the D40, I still like having manual there just in case.


I could never get the medallions like this on '60s Fords with the point and shoot, as they'd tend to get washed out or blury. But now I'm able to capture them perfectly, and what a great thing that is, as they are some of the neatest to do closeups of.


I don't like when car owners have the hoods of their cars open, as it ruins the cars shape, though there is some benefits. One is if they have a really cool engine, ripe for photography, the other is getting underside shots of hood ornaments. It especially works for Plymouths like this, because it's a boat, or for the eagle on Chevrolets or the rocket on Oldsmobiles.


Custom ornaments make my time fun, as they are so different. This one is quite popular among the people on Flickr who view my photos.


I really like this custom one too, and no its not because I'm biased towards the red whiskers. *strokes beard*

Now on my most recent car show outing, I brought my macro filters (for the non-photographers, a macro filter is basically a magnifying glass that attaches to the end of the lens), I have a 3x, 2x, and 1x which of course can be combined to also create 4x, 5x and 6x. Having the macro filters really gave me a different view and mission while taking shots, especially of ornaments. I also went into other things like nameplates too.


This Packard's ornament's face was quite detailed for what it was, and the macro really helped bring that out. Though my arms are really unsteady at vertical shots, hence it being crooked. I need to improve that.


This one was extremely hard to capture. I couldn't get the angle right, light wasn't working to my advantage. I'm still not that happy with the result, but it's still a good macro example.


This is my favorite result from the macro stuff. I was amazed at how close I was able to get. You can see the dust and chips on the chrome, and that was only using 5x. I could've added the 1x and made it 6.


I never bothered with these "ornaments" before, as I always though they were just valves and didn't see the ornate dressing around the edge, until I got close and took this shot.


Another Ford Medallion, this time really close. It's probably extremely hard keeping these clean and free of scratches, rocks must aim directly for it.


Birds and ladies, thats what the old cars were about. This one isn't macro, I just really like the angle of the goose coming in for a landing.

And here is some non-hood ornament macro stuff.


I wanted to bring the details of the bird's head in closer, as it looked like little hearts cut out.


This one is a little too blurry for my taste, but the light on the shiny red details is great.


I love the Superbee logo, it's such a great character with a good design.

And that's my showcase of hood ornaments and macro shots. I'm really looking forward to doing more of these. I eventually want to get an actual macro lens, but those things are pricey. I think I may aim for a 10x filter first. I'll definitely be trying to perfect my technique with these shots. Expect to see more.

Some car birthdays

Ok, this is really an excuse to show off some of my own pictures, but also to celebrate some anniversaries that two of my favorite cars are celebrating this year, the Ford Model T which began production in 1908 and the Chevrolet Impala which began in 1958. The Model T was of course a revolutionary car that changed the way America saw the automobile and our current love of cars could pretty much be focused back to this point. The Impala was a revolution in style for Chevrolet. The Impala is still around today even after many evolutions and changes, its still a car with a lot of style and the top of Chevrolet's offerings.

I don't actually have any pictures that are definitively the first year for the Model T. The model lasted from 1908 to 1927 when Ford thought it good to start over with models and bring back the Model A designation. But here is some Model Ts that were made in that 19 year period.


A Model T police car from Burlingame, California.


1915 Speedster Model T.


Stock Model Ts are rare to come by because of their age and popularity of creating T-Bucket hot rods.


The Model T came in a variety of body styles, coupes, roadsters, wagons, trucks convertibles and this, a 1912 touring car, which were larger than the other models, the limos of their day as it were.

The Impala was introduced as Chevrolets top of the line model in 1958, displacing the Bel Air which had held that position since the mid-50s. It held this position until the '60s when it was displaced itself by the Caprice. The Impala always carried once unique style feature throughout all it's model, the pair of triple tail lights in the rear, making it instantly recognizable.

The most famous appearance of the 1958 Impala was in Geroge Lucas' American Graffiti where a white '58 was owned by Ron Howard's character Steve, but driven throughout most of the movie by Charles Martin Smith's character, Toad.


This was the actual Impala used in the movie, showing its age slightly, but still in beautiful condition.


The '58 model came in both 2 door and 4 door varieties. A 2-door coupe, 2-door hardtop, 2-door convertible, 4-door hardtop, and 4-door sedan. The 2-door models are the most common. Convertibles of any car are usually the most rare, however I have yet to see any 4-door '58s, but have seen one convertible.


The key visual point of the Impala, as mentioned, is the 3 tail lights in the rear. Also in this picture is the development of Chevy's sideways fins in contrast to the vertical fins of the era (such as those found on the Cadillacs). This would go on to be taken to the extreme in '59 and '60.


1958 was also the debut of the dual headlights for GM. All 1958 GM models carried a similar grille to this, with the dual head lights on top and squarish grille below. The Buick models had the most spectacular, with the entire thing being covered in individual chrome squares.

So there is two cars that celebrate some big anniversaries this year, the 100th of the Ford Model T and the 50th of the Chevrolet Impala. Two classics and two of my favorites.